The Land Before Time is a 1988 American animated adventure drama film directed and co-produced by Don Bluth (at Sullivan Bluth Studios), and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall.

Originally released by Universal Pictures and Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, it features anthropomorphic dinosaurs living in the prehistoric times. The plot concerns a young Apatosaurus named Littlefoot who is orphaned when his mother is killed by a Tyrannosaurus. Littlefoot flees famine and upheaval to search for the Great Valley, an area spared from devastation. On his journey, he meets four young companions: Cera, a Triceratops; Ducky, a Saurolophus; Petrie, a Pteranodon; and Spike, a Stegosaurus.

In a time near the end of the Cretaceous Period, a series of catastrophic events are causing an intense drought and several herds of dinosaurs seek an oasis known as the “Great Valley”. Among these, a diminished “Longneck” herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot. Years later, Littlefoot plays with Cera, a “Three-horn”, who was trying to smash a beetle until her father intervenes; whereupon Littlefoot’s mother names the different kinds of dinosaurs: “Three-horns”, “Spiketails”, “Swimmers”, and “Flyers” and states that each has historically remained apart. That night, as Littlefoot follows a “hopper”, he encounters Cera again, and they play together briefly until a “Sharptooth” appears. He attacks them, before Littlefoot’s mother comes to their rescue. During their escape, she suffers severe back and neck injuries from the Sharptooth’s teeth and claws. At that same time, an “earthshake” opens a deep ravine that swallows up the Sharptooth and divides Littlefoot and Cera from their herds. Littlefoot finds his dying mother, and receives her final words of advice in favor of his intuition.

Depressed and confused, Littlefoot meets an old Clubtail named Rooter, who consoles him upon learning of his mother’s death. Littlefoot later hears his mother’s voice guiding him to follow the “bright circle” past the “great rock that looks like a longneck” and then past the “mountains that burn” to the Great Valley. On his journey (now all by himself), Littlefoot meets Cera once again and tries to get her to join him, but she refuses.

Later, Littlefoot is accompanied by a young “Bigmouth/Swimmer” named Ducky, whose company bears him out of his depression. Soon after, they meet an aerophobic “Flyer” named Petrie. Cera, who is attempting to find her own kind, finds the unconscious Sharptooth inside the ravine. Thinking he is dead, Cera harasses him, during which she mistakenly wakes him up, and flees. She later bumps into Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie, and tells them that the Sharptooth is alive, although Littlefoot does not believe her. She then describes her encounter (exaggerating her bravery), during which she accidentally flings Ducky into the air and discovers a hatchling “Spiketail”, whom she names Spike and brings him into the group. Seeking the Great Valley, they discover a cluster of trees, which is abruptly depleted by a herd of Whiptailed Longnecks. Searching for remaining growth, they discover one tree still with leaves, and obtain food by stacking up atop each other and pulling the leaves down. Cera remains aloof, but at nightfall, everyone including herself gravitates to Littlefoot’s side for warmth and companionship.